U.S. Counterterrorism Officials Insisted that Crotch Bomber Be Let Into Country

Undersecretary for management at the State Department, Patrick F.
Kennedy, told Congress that the State Department wanted to keep crotch
bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab out of the U.S., but that intelligence
agencies insisted that Abdulmutallab be let into the country.

Specifically,
on January 27th, Kennedy told the House Committee on Homeland Security
that intelligence agencies blocked revocation of Abdulmutallab's visa
because it would have foiled a "larger investigation" into Al Qaeda.

The
State Department didn't revoke the visa of foiled terrorism suspect
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab because federal counterterrorism officials
had begged off revocation, a top State Department official revealed
Wednesday.

Patrick F. Kennedy, an undersecretary for management at
the State Department, said Abdulmutallab's visa wasn't taken away
because intelligence officials asked his agency not to deny a visa to
the suspected terrorist over concerns that a denial would've foiled a
larger investigation into al-Qaida threats against the United States.

"Revocation
action would've disclosed what they were doing," Kennedy said in
testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security. Allowing
Adbulmutallab to keep the visa increased chances federal investigators
would be able to get closer to apprehending the terror network he is
accused of working with, "rather than simply knocking out one solider
in that effort."

This is eerily similar to 9/11:

One of al-Qaeda’s top trainers in terrorism and how to hijack airplanes, who was a very close associate of Bin Laden, was an American citizen who was an operative for the FBI, the CIA, and the Army (see this article from the San Francisco Chronicle and this article
from the Globe and Mail). Indeed, while he was acting as an FBI
informant, he smuggled Bin Laden in and out of Afghanistan, helped plan
the attacks on US embassies in Africa, and apparently played a pivotal
role in planning 9/11.

According to a 1995 Boston Globe report, his entry into the country was made possible by “clandestine CIA sponsorship.” According to West Point's Combatting Terrorism Center, the terrorist was:

Given a visa waiver under
a “little known visa waiver program that allows the CIA and other
security agencies to bring valuable agents into the country, bypassing
the usual immigration formalities.” While perhaps “little known,” this
authority was granted to the Director of National Intelligence by the
Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 and codified in 50 U.S.C.
§403h, which states that if “the admission of a particular alien into
the United States for permanent residence is in the interest of
national security or essential to the furtherance of the national
intelligence mission, such alien and his immediate family shall be
admitted to the United States for permanent residence without regard to
their inadmissibility under the immigration or any other laws and
regulations….”

sometimes to clear the brain one must think anew and in order to do that watch say Cambodia's answer to a young Sophia Loren in the following vid mash-up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cke9UynnmAI
...
my take off on Goldman based on Old Boy where our hero eats the Squid raw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9yvSmSGjNg has been made inaccessible in the USA. (places tin foil hat on head) even though it is a Korean movie that had a limited run in the US. strange,

18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 1st corinthians 3: 18-20.

Oh come on now, certainly you're not suggesting the real reason they allowed this underwear bomber onto that Detroit flight was to make national news --- just when the voting down of the Dorgan Amendment, with the support of the White House and the anti-votes of many a so-called Democrat --- just began to make the national news.

And now, of course, few people recall that the Dorgan Amendment was the closest thing to a public option to come out of the US Senate.

Next you'll be suggesting that those immigration/Hispanic marches, of several years back during the Bush administration, were to kick that warrentless wiretapping off the front pages of the USA Today!

Just because those marches were organized over the Spanish-language radio stations, owned by the Blackstone Group (gee whiz, those were the guys who brokered the fastest and largest real estate sale in NYC's history, the World Trade Center, OMG!!!!), who also happened to be the recipient of that captive insurance fund for the relatives of the victims of the 9/11 attacks (which they structured as a quite-profitable hedge fund, OMG! OMG!), is anything other than a coincidence, for gosh sakes!!!!!

Just had to get in my sarcasm - and thanks for this post - today....

Seriously, though, hasn't anyone ever heard the term "cutouts" before? It was quite common when many of us served in military intelligence eons ago! (Yeah, right...sure the CIA penetrated al Qaeda, like they really needed to...)

And hasn't anyone ever read Zbig Brzezinski's memoirs, for gosh sakes? Al Qaeda is simply an ongoing intel operation, used by the Paks, the Brits, the Americans and certain other parties willing to pay their price.

Of course it was an inside job, just watch Kurt Haskell's interview (also on CNN) saying the kid was brought on to the plane with a sharp dressed man WITHOUT PASSPORT!! Watch the interview, don't believe me. Also make sure you listen to Kurt on Alex Jones who reveals EVERYTHING! Watch "fabled enemies" and "9/11 coincidences" on utube back to back, then you will learn what the hell is going on.

The futile "war on terrorism" is bankrupting us, as it did the Soviet Union. And we are not winning that war. We were soundly defeated by the "test monkeys" in Vietnam (who were armed by the USSR), and we will be defeated again in Afghanistan.

Pierre LaGrande demonizes the world's largest religion. It must be easier to have your imperialist, nationalism/hatred spoon fed to you by the msm than to befriend our Muslim neighbors, or learn what the Koran really says. Ah, the "ugly American". The mind-set that ushers in the new Dark Age.

Cognitive, my friend...we are truly just beginning to experience a massive "sea change" in the declining living standards of the developed countries, so the days of bliss and unbridled consumption that we have enjoyed is ending quickly. As you sow, so shall you reap.

The MSM does not EVER say a bad thing about the Muslim religion. The US government does not EVER say a bad thing about the Muslim religion. My goodness Bush broke bread with a few KNOWN terrorists the same goddamn week that 3,000 were killed.

If one reads history one comes up against the fact that Islam was imperalistic...for a long long time. They want that back. Doesn't mean that the Bankers are not fucks, or that the left aren't a bunch of assholes or that the Republicans aren't trying to fix things for their biggest donors, it means that in real life you can have more than one enemy.

Behind all the political rhetoric being hurled at us from abroad, we are bringing home one unassailable fact--[terrorism is] a criime by any civilized standard, committed against innocent people, away from the scene of political conflict, and must be dealt with as a crime...

[I]n our recognition of the nature of terrorism as a crime lies our best hope of dealing with it...

[L]et us use the tools that we have. Let us invoke the cooperation we have the right to expect around the world, and with that cooperation let us shrink the dark and dank areas of sanctuary until these cowardly marauders are held to answer as criminals in an open and public trial for the crimes they have committed, and receive the punishment they so richly deserve. - William Webster, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, October 15, 1985

GW - I suggest you take a look at the report drafted for the OSD by officers assigned to the Army War College in 1989 & 1990 relating to the development and expanding of the operative conditions necessary for the incorporation and deployment of increased national technical means in operations, foreign and domestic for some of the answers you seek. The fact remains that after Iran-Contra there were influential individuals more certain than ever of their belief that the rule of law was/is a barrier to the executive branch leading to the fuller application of the policy of judicial exclusion. These actions were augmented with efforts to lay the ground work necessary to render the rule of law moot with respect to all executive branch operations. The rest has been and is now our unfolding history as a nation of a unified political apparatus dedicated to the elimination of the concept of the rule of law and the professionals dedicated to its defense from national life as THE impediment to; "Preserving, protecting and defending The Constitution of The United States of America".

tough one this. Do we share info that is not 100% (50%, 25%???) credible in an attempt to better understand the plausible, possible (though not verifiable) nature of our world. We do it as investors every day and prices are based on this. Will Greece default? Will GS beat their #'s.
We look at all info to arrive at a conclustion. Invariably, we'll find some things that are incorrect, reaching, and wishful for those that want to tear up the status quo and begin anew. But so long as it is an honest attempt to open our minds to the possiblities, it's probably worth the time. But please, no one can prove a damn thing so let's not pretend we can. Having an open mind to the possiblities is good but closing it with certitude that there is a grand plot afoot is dangerous...especially if the truth comes along otherwise.

This isn't a conspiracy. It was an entrapment technique. Cops use it all the time. A blunder by the USG to go for a bigger prize-and putting a bunch of people at risk on that airplane.I'm willing to bet that the USG didn't actually plot 9-11, but let these cats meader around trying to get a bigger prize and blew it. They lost track,got the wrong dates whatever. Condi Rice was put on the hot seat for knowing there was a plot way before 9-11 happened. I'll give that moron credit and just say she was incompetent and screwed up. She should be in jail.The one thing you can count on in life is that any government and it's agencies are incompetent. And it only gets worse when it's malicious and incompetent at the SAME time.How is this post relevant to finance?The governments of the world are hiding their ponzi finance problems by drumming up terrorism scares. Everytime the government gets in trouble, or the ponzi starts unravelling, terrorism pops up. Videos of Osama,plots, alert rises. And in a world of complex financial interdependence and collusion, you can't just go bomb China. And China can't just go dump treasuries and kill us off. So the military and government class can drum up the esoteric terrorist threat to keep the money flowing to the right people. You think we couldn't get Osama by now? It's a headless hydra, invented by Western Governments.What do you think those clowns in Davos are doing in private rooms(when there are no hookers)?

I'll give that moron credit and just say she was incompetent and screwed up. She should be in jail.

Gross criminal negligence in every direction. I would say the same thing about flooded New Orleans, but I always get shrugs whenever I bring up the fact that all involved kept their jobs or weren't prosected to the full extent of the law.

This isn't a conspiracy. It was an entrapment technique. Cops use it all the time. A blunder by the USG to go for a bigger prize-and putting a bunch of people at risk on that airplane.
I'm willing to bet that the USG didn't actually plot 9-11, but let these cats meader around trying to get a bigger prize and blew it. They lost track,got the wrong dates whatever. Condi Rice was put on the hot seat for knowing there was a plot way before 9-11 happened. I'll give that moron credit and just say she was incompetent and screwed up. She should be in jail.
The one thing you can count on in life is that any government and it's agencies are incompetent. And it only gets worse when it's malicious and incompetent at the SAME time.
How is this post relevant to finance?
The governments of the world are hiding their ponzi finance problems by drumming up terrorism scares. Everytime the government gets in trouble, or the ponzi starts unravelling, terrorism pops up. Videos of Osama,plots, alert rises. And in a world of complex financial interdependence and collusion, you can't just go bomb China. And China can't just go dump treasuries and kill us off. So the military and government class can drum up the esoteric terrorist threat to keep the money flowing to the right people. You think we couldn't get Osama by now? It's a headless hydra, invented by Western Governments.
What do you think those clowns in Davos are doing in private rooms(when there are no hookers)?

Sigh...more bovine excrement from the conspiracy crowd with an agenda all their own. The sources they cite are usually dubious at best, dubious being very charitable about it.

They do nothing for ZH other than to detract from the otherwise high credibility of ZH, a reputation which it is both noted for and, the same reputation it will eventually lose entirely if the lunatic fringe is allowed to take it over.

Thankfully it appears there is one less wingnut among us these days, since PM doesn't seem to have put up a post on this site for weeks - HooRah!! Hopefully GW will go join him. Soon.

Two words: Operation Northwoods (you can go to the US government itself and find the released material [released as part of an inquiry into the death of JFK]).

Just because That operation didn't occur, it doesn't mean that such suggested tactics have not occurred (look up "agent provocateur"/CIA).

Oh, two more words: Manhattan Project (imagine something this big kept as a secret- so MANY people; makes you wonder how That was possible? 9/11 WAS a conspiracy; what's NOT known is who all contributed to it- sorry, if it's not brought out in a court of law any such "findings" are about as trustworthy as edicts from the Kremlin).

¨Lunatic fringe,¨ that group of lemmings that doesnt drown with the masses. Typical namecalling... wingnut ... lunatic fringe.... instead of reasoned arguments. Let ZH worry about their reputation and I suspect they will survive.

I don't know about all your conspiracy theories, this I do know. My neighbor's brother-in-law was one of the pilots of the 2nd plane, so remote control stuff just sounds false. I have listened to the 5 videos from Sibel Edmonds, hired the week of 9/11 as an FBI translator, her testimony sounds authentic, maybe you should listen, which will support the idea that her attempts to report the truth were ignored and prevented from being exposed within her own dept. I respect George's attempt to bring things to light. Light is our only disinfectant at this stage. http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7374

Al Quaeda is just the latest "external" bugabear to keep the amerikan people terrified and agreeable to squandering 1/3 of our monetary resources on defense which keeps the likes of Halliburton, XE, Dyncorp, GE and many others going strong.

If the "war" on terror was real, the first country the US would have bombed is Saudi Arabia. The guys who blew up the USS Cole were Saudis. The perpetrators of the US African Embassies that were blown up were Saudis. 15 of the 19 9/11 guys were Saudis. Osama is a Saudi.

The war on terror provides US justification to do anything it wants to any person or any country globally.

And complicating the matter is the US, of course. Consider that the ruling family is aging and no real succession is clear. The US MUST be in that country not only to protect the existing rulers, but it must be there in case the existing rulers fail. It serves both parties well for there to be fanaticals on display (though it's anyone's guess as to who is really doing the deeds- given that Osama bin Laden was on the CIA's payroll shows what a tangled web this all is).

Anyone who believes novice non-military pilots could fly those planes into those TINY (at the speed they were flying) LOW targets is silly. Think about it folks, if you have trouble landing a Cesna, can you be expected to hit a specific building at a specific elevation (not too low - you'll hit something else first...not too high, you'll mis...) at 500-ish kph? Really? What other magic will you believe?

You're baiting things into a dead-end. Without actual suspects in place, and put through a thorough trial (and keep in mind, given the numerous exonerations that regularly occur, just because someone is convicted it still doesn't rest as absolute fact) we could hardly know, now could we?

Someone asked that civil discussion take place, and I agree. That's why I ONLY concentrate on the question of how WTC 7 came down- no pilots to mess with, no planes or pilots to haggle over here...

They skipped learning about how to land. The 9/11 investigation was the cover-up. If you question the completeness of the inquiry you experience immediate ad hominem attacks, as CD expertly fleshed out for us.

Adding to what Orly pointed out about being more vulnerable to cognitive dissonance in the 50's/60's I would agree. We had just saved the world from Nazi and Bushido ideologies, yet were completely unaware of the mass torture, imprisonment, and murder of millions of Soviets. Before the internet how could you even know anything about MK Ultra experiments without being involved in the program?

Detractors never explain alternative viewpoints because the truth is hidden in [plane] sight.

Sigh. Facepalm. Can't anyone debate this stuff without coming off like either a) a nutjob or b) a religious bigot? I am sure, if folks try very hard, we can have an (ahem) intelligent, intellectual debate about all of this without resorting to name calling and delusional rants.

You can be agnostic on the bigger points GW make. since who of us really knows? I enjoyed this post as well as the comments. After the bailouts and related deceptions, many of us are more open to reinterps of the past than previously.

I'm glad that there are people against the war and know that its b.s. now.

I remember how lonely I felt in 2002 telling people that there were no wmd's, and that the premises of the war were lies.People looked at me like I was mad. I'm surprised they didn't call the FBI on me for questioning the commander in chief during a time of war. No, seriously.

Yeah, I had my share of intimidations (like 4 strapping guys run a pickup truck at me- I stood my ground and challenged them- they backed down [smart of them]). Food thrown at me... And just after 9/11 (day of), my "ex" looks at me like I was a terrorist when I asked "what did we do to piss them off?" Of course, cause and affect is always alive- Chalmers Johnson spelled it all out in Blowback.

"When you find that you are on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect."